Lincolnshire County and a group of district councils are set to fight it out to wield the power of a new authority.
Local Government Reorganisation is running in tandem with devolution, which means the biggest shake-up in how local authorities are run in a generation.
South Holland District Council is looking to add Rutland county along with both South and North Kesteven districts to the current South East Lincolnshire Partnership (SELCP) partnership with Boston and East Lindsey, and submit a proposal to central government to run the area.
Adding the new councils to SELCP will bring the population to 570,602 – above the government guidelines of a 500,000 minimum.
The formal proposal is due to be made by South Holland today (Thursday) and then all the authorities need to wait until mid-May or early June for the minister to say which proposals will be moving forward.
South Kesteven has already revealed the plan.
“The government has demanded that we move at pace to a very ambitious timeline.
“Fundamentally, the government’s plans will take decision making further away from local residents. There will be fewer councillors who will inevitably be less accessible and less accountable to the people they represent,” said SKDC leader Ashley Baxter.
“We are, however, committed to working with neighbouring councils to achieve the best possible outcome for residents and businesses.”
The government has requested interim plan proposals be put forward by the end of this week (21).
The current Lincolnshire County Council membership will be discussing its preferred options at a meeting on Friday – putting forward its favoured option of the county council stepping-up and taking over all the responsibilities of both it and the district and borough councils.
There are three options on the table, one unitary authority, two unitary authorities broadly splitting the county into north and south and the final option is for three unitary authorities – but council is being recommended not to progress that option. There are resource implications in both the one or two authority options, says the report.
“The modelling works on the premise that the two unitary options end up with the same levels of savings. However, it is important to note that the costs are likely to be markedly different between the two,” says the report.
The government wants the new authority to be the ‘right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks,’ according to its criteria.
It will be April 2028 before any of the new authorities are up and running, once consultations are complete and the legislation is put in place.
